The Impossible Mission: Group A Game Thread

This story, as many such stories often do, began with Dwarven Ale. Specifically, the seventh round of it. Worried about their impending final exams, Alanus had suggested they leave off studying (“How can you study when we don’t even know what the exam is?”) and get good and drunk instead (“A good night’s sleep will do us better than memorizing one more bit of lore or another hundred sword thrusts ever could”). By the time Cy was done selling it, even straight-laced Zarbock agreed to go out (“As long as we don’t get ‘too’ drunk. It’s unseemly”).

All was well for six rounds of merriment, fellowship, and gentle teasing. (“I know you’re a halfling and all, but gods above you’re short!”). The seventh round, however, was when Cy got a bright idea: “Gentlemen, since we’re all likely to fail out day after tomorrow, let’s live life like we’re young tonight, and go out with one massive prank. A prank so good they’ll have to pass us!”

The prank stretched the limits of Cy’s skills, Edwin’s magic, Marzon’s hand-eye coordination, and Biggen’s stealth. It was beyond the pale, an epic collaboration the likes of which have never been seen before. It was a success by any measure, striking fear and awe into the hearts of their teachers.

Headmaster Ebonfeather Shadowcaster was a tall, imposing Tengu, named for the luster of his feathers (as many Tengu are) and his abilities with controlling shadow that had made him so successful in his time as an adventurer. Right now, given that most of you are hung over, what he is is primarily loud.

“What possessed you? What could possibly have gotten into the heads of such impudent, stubborn students? And above all, what am I going to do with you?”

The group, still reeling, has been hauled into the small Sorcery classroom: the headmaster paces back and forth across the silver inlay in the right size and shape for a summoning circle, leaving the rest of you to scrounge up chairs amidst the stuffed props, curios, and bookshelves of grimoires used as teaching aids. He seems to have stopped ranting -- is he actually waiting for an explanation?

Head reeling, Cy tried to pull himself together. He usually didn't drink. And after his little send off back home, he had tried to rein in his more...impulsive...self. But the stress of the exams had overwhelmed his better judgment and, well, here he was...

At least this time didn't result in the mayor's daughter dumped in a mud puddle in the ruins of an expensive dress, Cy thought. Turning on the charm, Cy tried to put forth his most charming smile to Headmaster Shadowcaster. "Well, our instructors have been harping on us about how much we needed to improve our teamwork, and with the exam coming up, we figured we should practice in the recommended area of focus."

I told you guys we shouldn't have been drinking Stone Piss. None of us are Dwarves. I said, "We're going to get caught. I don't have skills, magic, hand-eye coordination, or any training in stealth.... apparently...." But, no, you insisted I tag along because, otherwise, I'm a party pooper.

Cy only let the charming smile slip for a brief second, before he responded to Zabrock through gritted teeth... "Though, apparently, some of us still need some further practice in the teamwork department."

Hiding a grimace, Cy briefly turned toward Zabrock and shot him his best "play along" look.

The Headmaster's left eye twitches ever so slightly as he glares at the idi- students before him, After a long, long moment of increasingly heavy silence. wherein Shadowcaster's crest feathers rise a half inch in a threat display, he finally repeats in a flat tone, "teamwork."

Another pause.

"Did you forget that I am the one that teaches the upper level course on spewing out sweet smelling bullshit?" Also known as 'Politics and Noble Courtesies' on the official rolls. Before the half-elf can reply, he holds up a finger and gives the rest of the group a beady look. "And the rest of you? What have you to say for yourselves?"

"I'm not going to claim it wasn't my idea, for obviously it was within my power to abstain. However, I do feel it is good to relax and take a break from the strenuous activities we so often engage in here in the Guild." Frowning, "But I will admit perhaps we relaxed a little too much."
Smirking in @izzion's direction, "Besides, teamwork is important, right? I'd never abandon my friends!"
Bowing once again towards the Headmaster, "And, you know, practical application and all that..."

Alanus had been been pinching the bridge of their nose as the fellow halfling spoke. Then with a sigh, they look up and decide to chime in, "Practical indeed, and as practical jokes go it was pretty harmless... It's not like we tried to involve that pet owlbear."

After a pause that involves a glance towards , he continues, "As grand as getting the owlbear involved would have been, we have some sense. Besides, a little excitement should be good inspiration to all. Surely for the greater good to have some... levity."

All good stories have some dramatic moments in them, right? That's what Alanus is thinking to themself anyway.

Edwin was still trying to REMEMBER most of it. He was sure that it was in line with his beliefs, or else he would not have done it, but...for the life of him he was unsure as to what it was, exactly. He would make a note to never drink that much again, if he ever had the chance to. Once the wincing subsided from the raised voices, he spoke. "While I cannot answer for what you would decide to do with us. I would ask that we be allowed to make amends." For whatever it was that they did...He was SURE that he hadn't done much destruction, as they were inside rather than the spot they might have destroyed. One thing he WAS sure of was his faith and that Thyr may not judge them harshly for wishing to live up to their potential.

"Amends," replies the headmaster, as though that were a joke that had fallen entirely flat. He stares Edwin in the eye for a moment, then Alanus, groping for words. When he speaks again, he's raised his eyes to the ceiling in exasperation.

Marzon sits in a chair, looking down as his hands while cleaning his fingernails. He clears his throat before speaking. "Of course, we simply thought it best to test ourselves before the big exam...and it isn't like anyone was hurt."

Marzon glances up sheepishly before continuing. "You never know when some diplomat will take us out for drinks to butter us up, better we find out our limits now than when it really matters. As for the prank....forgive us Headmaster, we meant no harm. We were clearly quite addled when we came up with the idea."

"And, to be completely honest, several of them went along with the idea under duress." Cy was charming for all his worth. After all, no one had gotten maimed, or even moderately hurt, and the property damage on this little escapade was pretty light, and Cy had talked his way out of worse in the past. "If you're going to flunk anyone, it was my idea, so it should be my responsibility. And Zabrock especially argued against it." A brief pause, for effect. "But it's not like there was a fire that damaged the guild training hall. And you wouldn't want to be the Guild Headmaster that expelled a group of diamonds in the rough, right?"

"Diamonds in the rough?" asks the headmaster, incredulous. "You honestly believe you'll amount to something? That you're even worth training?"

He shakes his head, astonished. "Fine. I'll tell you what. I'll let you take your final exam -- if you pass the exam, you'll graduate immediately. But if you fail, you flunk out. It will be a task that will test your precious teamwork, and let you put all that excess energy to good use."

Cy's mask slipped, as the color drained out of his face. Once more, his teenage assurance of being able to talk his way out of anything was shaken. "Well, I mean, graduation might be a bit premature..." Cy stammered. "But there's certainly no reason to throw us all out over a single indiscretion. Don't these situations normally just result in confinement to the Guild hall, maybe some extra cleaning duties or physical training or something?" Even Cy's voice was showing the strain, as he was visibly shaken.

Cy felt power and nervous energy surge through him, and inside his cloak, his dagger glowed with energy within the wrist sheath (Cy uses Thunderstaff on his dagger, albeit not entirely voluntarily).

Smirking at @izzion, "Considering I got here from what I would consider a mere bar-brawl, I think it's lucky we're being fast-tracked. There are worse things than failure, after all."@Tsaukpaetra sighs sadly, "Wouldn't be the first time I had to figure out what it means to start over..."

Easy for you to say, thought Cy despairingly. You probably have somewhere that will welcome you back even if you don't pass. If only I had that luxury...

Cy tried to muster up a smile, but didn't trust himself to talk any further, as his mouth had suddenly gone dry. He nodded at Marzon and Biggen, and turned his attention back toward Headmaster Shadowcaster.

Edwin gave a slow breath out that he hadn't known he was holding. "I thank you for your judgement." Which meant he would have his chance to prove himself! He was...dubious about what the headmaster must be planning, but he would meet this and show that his talents were not wasted.

The headmaster nods, an odd gleam coming into his eye. "Very well then. The final exam is always a practical, so let's see, what do I have... ah yes. Out in the plains, there has been a dragon sighting at the Scorazzi Reservoir. I wish you to kill it, and bring back its hoard as proof. That should do nicely."

A...dragon? Edwin tried very hard to not say the first three things that came to mind. "I..see. Well...that would indeed be a test." One that was a bit more than he could think of. A dragon?! "Did anyone, perhaps, mention how large of a dragon? Not that it is of primary concern." Since it was still a dragon and we was quite sure he was not able to be immune to fire.

At the mention of the dragon sighting, Cy felt his eyebrows rise. One of his Sorcery instructors had been quite insistent that he brush up on his knowledge of arcane histories. Something about growing into his heritage or whatever. While most of the material was fairly boring and hard to remember, Cy had found the histories of the region's dragons to be extremely interesting. And it seemed to impress the instructor that he had spent all that time "studying" in the library, so it turned out to be a win-win.

Dragons. Cy knows a lot about dragons; he spent an evening studying them just recently, though he was thinking more "making potions from their body parts" than "kill them". Newborn dragons are the size of Biggen; the oldest among them have been rumored to be larger than the entire school, though it's unknown if this is accurate. They are winged, and are adept fliers. They have all sorts of magical properties; for any given piece of their body, there's at least seven magical uses for it, and that's before you get into the dozens of superstitions around dragon parts, dragon sightings, and dragon legends.

They can see in the dark, as well as a dwarf can. They can see in the dim as well as a catfolk can. They cannot be held down, nor put to sleep; legends say an angry dragon is entirely unstoppable. They can pass for human, which must involve magic given their size. They eat, they sleep, and they breathe: specifically, they eat people, they sleep lightly, and they breathe fire. Or acid. Or both.

"Well, I was thinking more along the lines of the traditional 20km morning run, but I suppose we'll have to settle for this." Cy tried to project an aura of confidence, but the mention of a dragon didn't do anything to settle his nerves. "Did anyone add the elective for making their skin magically immune to fire? Acid? Being able to fly?"

Alanus frowns for a moment, hearing the mention of a dragon. He does... not at all feel ready to fight a dragon. Maybe if it's a baby one or something... but... even then.

Then trying to look reasonably calm, Ananus then looks up to the headmaster, "Yes. Edwin's question about what sort of size of dragon. That is, if that information was included in the reports from that sighting..."

Alanus groans a little bit, muttering something about 'typical' and 'unreliable'. Then with a sigh, they simply nod.

Mithril. He finds himself thinking about mithril. That would be nice to have on some blade edges right about now. Maybe some adamantine chain too. Maybe a ring of invisibility. Yeah, a ring like that would be totally great for this. He recalls hearing tales of some halfling dragon slayer using a ring of invisibility. Those tales also involved something about a curse too, but bah... that's not so big a problem as a dragon surely.

Inwardly, Cy groaned. If he was going to be completely honest, he would admit he wouldn't have been able to provide any better information if he had been in the same situation, at least before his Academy days. But he couldn't stop himself from thinking, So we're getting the run around on sightings by untrained sheep herders, just because the Headmaster couldn't be bothered to assign a real team to confirm the sighting. Great.

@Tsaukpaetra sighs. "Not going to make it easy for us, eh? I suppose I'm grateful at least that we've been told it's a dragon we're after. All the better to get that little surprise out of the way than just say we need to gather treasure..."

"But, how are we so sure it even has treasure to retrieve? So far all we know is that it's somewhere in the Scorazzi Reservoir (or thereabouts), is probably big (maybe an adult?), has eaten recently, and can alter its appearance at will! For all we know the we-don't-have-proof-it-exists hoard isn't even in the vicinity of the sighted dragon!" he rambles, clearly a little stressed out.

Taking a moment to breath to calm down, Tsaukpaetra morosely finishes, "All I'm saying is we'd better take advantage of the Headmaster's allowance for us to plan for the morrow."

Cy nodded at Biggen, "Yeah, no point standing around here sweating if we only have one day to prepare. I'm going to go down to the archives, search through the past year or so worth of sightings and reportings from the plains area, see if there have been other unnatural events or such that might be ascribable to our dragon. And maybe see if there are any other histories of dragons in the area; maybe an adventurer ran across this one's mama in the past or something."

Cy turns to the Headmaster, "Assuming we have leave to depart and get ready, that is."

You know Gubaro like the back of your hand, but the Reservoir is out in the M'kai plains. You did know a baker on 4th street who grew up in the plains; you were talking about the whole water baron economy shortly before you came here, and she told you all about how weird she found it. What was it she said... ah yes: out on the plains, water is free for everyone to use, but all the water stems back to the single reservoir, so shepherds in that region go well armed to protect the water sources. It's almost like a sacred duty, but it crosses religious boundaries.

Marzon stands up and pushes the chair back. "I'll take a look and see if there are any maps of the reservoir while you research dragons, my father always said that a warrior's worst enemy is unknown terrain."

"You will be given access to the full archives, though not the faculty sections. And the Quartermaster has been given word to allow you to purchase anything you wish." A pause, then begrudgingly, "and if you can present an adequate reason and justification, perhaps a small token might be provided. Small."

(tutorial prompt! remember to roll skill checks whenever you think you should. We the GMs won't tell you that you can't do something, only that you can't succeed)

Archives should be useful. How useful is uncertain though, he felt. Right now, knowledge about this specific dragon and recent incidents would be the most useful and that's unlikely to be in archives. Still though...

He didn't know much about dragons beyond basic general knowledge... they do like caves though, right? That's always in all the tales. Wonder if there are any areas near the Scorazzi Reservoir that tend to have caves... Checking maps like Marzon is going for would be best, but off the top of the head...

Zabrock knows too well what it's like to be inconvenient. Being pushed off on one master after another for various circumstances finally led him to grasp the reason.

He studies the eyes of the Headmaster. Although tiny and black, surely they're large enough to gaze into the soul. He takes a good look at the Headmaster and tries to determine if the Headmaster means to get rid of his team, or whether the Headmaster really intends this to be a test. Is there any benevolence remaining by which he could request aid?

Dismiss myself? That wasn't what I meant! Try as he might, Cy couldn't think of a way to back walk things without making things worse. With a split second decision that only the young can make, Cy turned toward his teammates, "I'll see you in the mess hall for lunch, we can compare notes and figure out what other preparations we should make then." Ducking out without glancing back at the Headmaster, Cy shuffled off toward the archives. As he left the room, he fumbled inside his cloak to check his dagger in its sheath. Good, seems like the power faded. Maybe the Headmaster didn't notice it, and I won't get another reprimand for failing to control my sorceries... again...

The headmaster seems very frustrated, yes, and more than a little angry, but... there's also more than a bit of... embarrassment? He seems to be most annoyed with Cyssaliht, but it's just frustrated annoyance, not hate or anything of that sort as far as Zabrock can tell.

The paladin certainly doesn't detect any murderous rages or dastardly animosities lurking in those black eyes.

As Cy leaves the room, the Headmaster starts to say something, then hesitates before finally just looking back at the rest of the group. He takes a deep breath, then finally asks in a calmer tone, "did you have any more questions? Any of you?"

Zabrock puts on what could be considered a respectful smile. He looks around the room

"Friends, our Headmaster would not assign such a task that was not thought possible. This is the true training. Take courage!"

He strikes his chest across with his arm

"I trust in the Guild that it has adequately prepared us in skill and tactics. I am very grateful having been given the opportunity to attend. I trust in the Headmaster's wisdom, that we can succeed, or we would not have been given such a lofty goal."

with outstretched arms, palms turned up

"If you could imagine, such students slaying a dragon of all things, what glory it would bring. What prestige. When people would ask, "What manner of amateurs could slay a dragon?" We would tell them of our Guild, and that it trains even its aloof teams for the slaying of dragons. What kings would ask for us then?!"

He turns to the Headmaster, and lowers his tone, places his hands firm at his thighs, leans forward in a respectful bow.

"And that's why, in our humble state now, with full intention to advance the Guild, I request support from the Guild. Skill and tactics alone won't help us pass this test. We need supplies and gear fit to the job. We must succeed."